If Jason is correct, and I believe he is! Do you all think that if we really want to get better we need to A. quit drinking (it stops vitamin B absorbtion)B. Quit taking birth control (it effects B absorbtion)C. Quit smoking (loss of vitamin B"s)D Maybe quit taking the anti-depressants (they effect vitamin absorbtion, and alter our chemistry...(the only reason I was on antidepressants was BECAUSE of BV..if that is not the reason any were taking them in the first place..then obviously, not a good choice to stop.Everything he has said..adds up..for me, I know. Since I have been taking sublingual B-complex....I have been able to sleep (lack of B = insomnia)Since I have taking sublingual B - my chest pains and heart palpitations have almost disappearedSince I have been taking sublingual B- I have not had an asthma attackSince I have been taking sublingual B- my anxiety has been lifted GREATLYSince I have been taking B Complex- I have not been stinking, nor any discharge.

I also went out and bought the b6 yesterday. I am going to try taking that once a day along with the BA for 14 days. I am still curious about Enzara. Has anyone tried it? I bought it off of ebay but have not received it yet.

6efox,To answer your question about taking b6 with a b vitamin complex....Truth is, I don't really know. What I DO know is that my wife just takes 100mg of b6 with a good multivitamin (and a FULL bottle of water, key thing) and it works great. The key is LOTS of b6 and since it is water soluable, you MUST drink the water. 100mg of b6 is about 5000% of the recommended daily dose. There is a risk of b6 overdose, but only when you get up around 2000mg, so it's perfectly safe at the 100mg level.

BTW, good shopping tip, all those expensive hormone balancers on the shelf at the store are nothing more than a multivitamin with anywhere between 50-100mg of b6. Nothing else. Yeah, it all makes sense now, doesn't it? B6 is the key to hormonal harmony. Check it out for yourself. So don't waste your money. Just get a good One-a-day, some bottled water, and load up on the B6.

Hi, accidentally found this place whilst looking up jama sticks.. wondering what the hell they were and whether they were safe to use. But from what i gather from your posts, they can really dry you up...? I've always had too much natural discharge (prior to BV) since I was little so maybe this might not be much of an issue for me....? Sorry, it's 3.26am here and I have not been able to read too many previous posts so I haven't been able to work out the answer for myself.

Anyways.. a little about me, 27 and far away in the land of Oz... or Aus in the real world. Had one episode of BV for a couple of months and took Flagyl (3 tablets a day for 7 days.. why the difference in script...? Diff country, perhaps?) which made the smell disappear but the light yellowish discharge didn't completely go away. Then I had my period and four days after the period ended, I think it's starting to smell a little suspicious again.. not too sure though due to becoming accustomed to the strong fishy odour (can't remember what it used to smell like). I've also been diagnosed with HPV in my PAP smear early last year.. the same abnormality in cells was not detected in the next PAP though.

In any case, VERY EXCITED to have found this thread and all of you here!!! Just from reading four pages of posts, I'm beginning to feel as though you've all become my sisters! :^)

Enduring through BV for a couple of months was a nightmare.. i had no desire to have sex, felt too conscious to let my boyf do anything on me, could smell in sitting and standing, my pants reeked (is this the right spelling..?) of the foul odour and had to wash everyday, etc etc.. very very stressful. Truly feel for you guys and minutely comprehend why some of you tend to not even think about sex anymore..... you guys are such fighters. Seriously inspirational.

JASON - You are a SUPERSTAR CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your wife is a very lucky woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will go out and buy B6 tablets, first thing on Monday (too lazy to go out on a weekend). One question though, the helpful article that you linked up to your post said something about having to take B Complex together with B6 as some type of vitamin B activates the substance in B6.... since you definitely know more stuff than any Doctor or person around me, please answer this question: do you think it would be even better to follow the advice in the article? Or just B6 would do??

I really do think that you are right.. it all makes sense.. at least in my case anyway. I've experienced a lot of stress for the past year anad have been on anti-depressants (Effexor-R.. 75mg? I think) since January this year. Since ongoing depression is linked to a malfunction(?) in the brain and hormones, it's not surprising that BV might be a side effect either of the initial imbalance in hormones or the balancing act of the anti-depressant. I have also gained about 5 pounds in the last month or so for no clear reason, which may also be indicative of a hormonal imbalance in my body.

Phew...... so that was just "a little" about me. I'm sorry I wrote so much..... please read it ALL in your spare time.... lol

Wow, Jason that's a totally interesting tale of healing. I don't have bv now but did for years on end and believe what you are saying. Americans tend to be deficient in the bvitamins, and inositol, a b vitamin, has cured my polycystic ovaries. It is wild to think that something so simple could make such drastic changes--hope it works for those who try it!!It also seems like there's some logic to it because of the whole hormone b vitamin connection--for example, women on the pill tend to be deficient in folic acid, another b. And it would link up with the stress/bv hypotheses sinces bs are always helpful for stress...

Just throwing out some other examples of how this could make sense as a treatment...Since lots of folks seem to suffer from it postpartum, bv's back on my radar...

Dear ladies,My name is Jason. I am the husband of a woman that had suffered from BV for 7 years. She developed it shortly after giving birth to our son in August of 1999. It is an absolutely frustrating condition. Our relationship became uneasy and stressed because of it. We were getting nowhere with treatments and lost faith in the doctors. So, I took it upon myself to find out the answer to this condition and make her better myself. I love her and I couldn't stand to see her suffer through this any longer. I have devoted literally hundreds of hours of research to finding what causes BV. And I am happy to say that in February of this year, I made her BV disappear, and it hasn't returned. I'm almost positive that I have identified the CAUSE of BV and it can be corrected. I want to share my discovery with you.

I felt it was important to join in on this thread and share my information with you because your 40 plus pages of posts helped me in my quest to beat this condition. I am grateful to all of you and I am anxious to help you in return.

Before I go any further, I want to assure you that this is not a joke. Her BV is gone. No smell. No discharge. Nothing. This is not another "fad" cure that everyone jumps on with the promise of getting better. This really works because it treats the source of the condition, not justs the symptoms. I will take the time to explain how and why it works, and I will also explain why everything else DOESN'T work. You deserve to know exactly what is going on in your body. I have probably done more research on this subject in the last 2 years than anyone else in the country. I will try to share my discoveries with you as briefly as possible, but I also want you all to be fully informed, so this could get a little long-winded. I apologize in advance.

Nothing worked. I was treated with Metronidazole to make absolutely sure it wasn't me. I had to scream at the doctor to prescribe it to me. He said it wasn't caused by sexual contact so I didn't need to be treated. So I asked him, "Well, then what DOES cause it, smart ass?" He had no answer. I picked up my prescription on the way home.

Still nothing worked. We pretty much stuck with the h2o2 douches for the instant relief when we wanted sex or when the smell became overbearing, but nothing made it completely go away. That's when I became obsessed with figuring this thing out. I knew the medical community wasn't on my side (after all, if you all keep coming back to the doctor, they keep charging you, don't they? An easy cure is not in their best interest, financially). And so the research began.

I can't tell you how many articles and medical reviews I've read about BV. It must have been thousands of pages worth of information, but they all said the same thing........"the cause of BV is not clear." Gee, thanks for the insight.

I spoke with several OB/GYN's and even went as far as calling the head of the OB/GYN department at Baylor Medical in Houston (my brother went to med school there, so he hooked me up). But still I got nothing.

Early on, it didn't take me long to realize that virtually every one of the supposed "fixes" were merely treating symptoms, not the cause, which is obvious since the cause is not known. What else can you treat but symptoms? I was determined for my wife's sake to find and treat the CAUSE.

Now, I know that this is probably not necessary in this forum, but let's recap what we DO know about BV:

It occurs in women of child-bearing ageIt is an imbalance of the vaginal floraIt occurs more frequently in women who have had multiple sexual partnersIt can be acute and chronicIt can occur in women who have NEVER had sexIt is NOT an infectionIt is characterized by a strong fishy odor and a milky dischargeIt is an overgrowth of the Gardnerella bacteriaIt is not an STD

Ok, now let's look at some of the traditional (and not so traditional) treatments:

These treatments don't work because they try to mimic what your body chemistry SHOULD be doing naturally. Once you stop the treatment and rely on your body chemistry again, guess what? The BV is back. The bottom line with these treatments is this---even when BV is present, the vaginal chemistry is composed of the same acids and organisms that occur in a normal vaginal flora (even the gardnerella bacteria is present in normal flora). So what are you trying to get rid of with these treatments?? The focus should be to change the chemical proportions of the vaginal flora at the source: your own body's chemistry. You don't need to "get rid" of anything, just change the recipe. Then I figured it out.

What is it that dictates body chemistry??? HORMONES. They give the body a chemical blueprint. Hormones dictate PH levels. Hormones regulate bacterial growth. Hormones are what make you menstruate. Hormones are in charge of maintaining the vaginal flora. Hormones define what is "normal". If your hormones are a little off, your chemistry will be a little off. If you douche with yogurt to get rid of the smell but do nothing to change your hormonal balance, your BV comes back. If you kill off your entire vaginal flora with Flagyl and rely on your imbalanced hormones to rebuild it, your BV comes back. If you shove Vitamin C tablets inside of you at night to promote acidity but ultimately leave your messed up hormones in charge, your BV comes back. You have to treat your hormones to make it go away. The treatments are temporary. When you stop them, ultimately your body will go back to what it thinks is "normal". But in the case of chronic BV, "normal" is wrong. So let's look again at what we know about BV and it's close relationship to hormones:

It occurs in women of child-bearing age (women of child-bearing age go through a hormonal change)It is an imbalance of the vaginal flora (which is dictated by hormones)It occurs more frequently in women who have had multiple sexual partners (my research indicates that most women with BV absolutely LOVE sex. I know my wife does. You could say that she's a "pack of raging hormones")It can be acute and chronic (because the treatments don't address the cause, only the symptoms)It can occur in women who have NEVER had sex (again, hormonal change brings it on)It is NOT an infection (it is a hormonal fluctuation that produces a chemical imbalance)It is characterized by a strong fishy odor and a milky discharge (but no foreign biotics are present in BV. It's all percentages)It is an overgrowth of the Gardnerella bacteria (which occurs even in normal vaginal flora, there's just too much of it)It is not an STD (there is no difference in the chemical composition of the vaginal flora, only a proportional difference)

So, armed with this knowledge, you begin to see why the treatments don't work. They do nothing to correct your hormonal malfunction. As long as your hormones are out of whack, your BV will be present because your body will continue to metabolize your vaginal ph level incorrectly, causing BV to occur over and over again. The simple answer is that something in your life caused a hormonal change (fertility, pregnancy,whatever) that altered your chemical recipe, and until that recipe is corrected you will have BV regardless of what you do.

Great!! So how do you change your hormonal balance?? That was my next adventure. I'm not going to go into the agonizing details about how I discovered the answer, just read the first few sentences in this article

Vitamin B6 is by far the prevailing ingredient in virtually every "hormonal harmony and balance" pill on your pharmacists shelf. It balances hormones. It treats the CAUSE of BV, not the annoying symptoms. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I read what it does. I rushed right out to the store and bought a $3.00 bottle of 100mg B6 tablets and told my wife to take one every morning. Three days later her BV was gone and it hasn't come back since. So, there's your answer:

One 100mg tablet of B6 daily with a full glass of water = No more BV.

Now, I don't know if she'll have to take the B6 until menopause or not, but for now we're happy. I'm certain that all of you will have the same result. Please email me at j4sonl33@sbcglobal.net and let me know how it turns out for you. You are all very brave and wonderful women, and I thank you for the invaluable information that you have shared on this forum. This is my gift to you for your help. God bless you all.

Hi Everyone I am SO happy that I just found this site. I have had reoccurring BV for the last few wears. I have seen my midwife a million times and she has no answers. I do have an appointment with a specialist next month that is a believer of BA. I have tried a bunch of creams and none of them work. The Flagyl does work but I just don't feel comfortable about taking it over and over since it is only a temp fix. So here is the situation. It may sound crazy but it is what it is and I just need advise from someone! I had an IUD put in 5 years ago after my son was born. I had my first case of BV shortly after it was put in and then did not have it again until about 2 years ago. At first I thought it was the IUD so I had that taken out about 6 months ago. I did not have another case until about a month ago and my mw called in a script for me. It knocked it out and then a few days after I was done with the treatment it came back. Ok, now I have to back track. My husband and I have another sexual partner (this is the crazy part). We have been sexually active with her for close to 2 years. She is my best friend so we have very good communication and she knows about my problem. Through all of this she has never had any symptoms of BV. When my BV came back this last time I started putting 2 and 2 together. The last time that we had all been together was the day after I had finished the Flagyl and then my BV started coming back 2 days later. There are times when my husband will have actual intercourse with just her, just me or sometimes both. This last time the 3 of us were together he had had sex with both of us (me after her). After my symptoms came back I started thinking that maybe when her body fluids are mixed with mine, it causes the BV. Could it be that some how my body is reacting to her even though she doesn't have symptoms of BV? I haven't called my mw yet and asked her but I have NO idea how I would even begin to tell her about this.

I was going to call my mw tomorrow to get another script, but I am thinking of tying other things. I picked up some BA and put it into an empty capsule. I am going to put that in before I go to bed and do it twice a day for the 2 weeks. I also purchased Enzara. Does anyone have experience with that?

I'm not trying to cause a big "probiotic scare" here (I'm actually on the pep squad for them), but I found some information at Wikipedia regarding a strain of bacteria that is in the fem' pros' some of us are taking...

I think it was the L rhamnosus strain...it has been discovered in some certain circumstances to be pathogenic. However, it didn't state what the circumstances were. Does anyone know anything about this? I think we should be aware of what was discovered.

The strain of L. rhamnosus in question was the "GG" strain. The one in Fem-Dophilus, Ombe, etc. is L. rhamnosus GR-1, developed by Dr. Gregor Reid.

I'm not trying to cause a big "probiotic scare" here (I'm actually on the pep squad for them), but I found some information at Wikipedia regarding a strain of bacteria that is in the fem' pros' some of us are taking...

I think it was the L rhamnosus strain...it has been discovered in some certain circumstances to be pathogenic. However, it didn't state what the circumstances were. Does anyone know anything about this? I think we should be aware of what was discovered.

I liked in the article how it mentioned that some people don't have these "good bacteria's in the body ..either wiped out from antibiotics, stress, or being a bottle baby and never getting these bacteria needed from our mothers breast milk....

I'm sorry..maybe I misunderstand this... (propylene glycol) it is not safe for cats... but "ok" for humans? lol. Is your cat CFO of the FDA? Just curious? lol

No, you understood it. I think I cut and pasted that off wiki, doesn't that just kill you? (I'm going to stoop really low here and make a crude joke: "not 'okay' for cats, perfectly fine for pussy . . . ")

Those retards at the FDA. That's why I hate it that they make such a big stink over supplements when a lot of pharmaceuticals and/or chemicals just aren't healthy. I'm appalled at the old feminine hygiene ads. No wonder women are sticking everything but/under the kitchen sink "up there" (yeah I'm coy at times) in a frantic, panicked effort to smell "dainty and fresh".

My female cat has never ever worked in her life, never will and is proud of it; my five-month-old male kitten is just a psycho retard, so yeah, come to think of it, maybe he is secretly on the board of directors for some government agency. I'm almost certain he couldn't do a worse job.

And CanCan, yeah, I know, for meditation to have any significant kind of effect takes a lot of practice. To be perfectly honest, if you have kids or live with someone, I think it's not so easy. I won't do things like yoga if I don't go to a class, and they're so expensive down here (Lodo, Denver) that I just usually take the path of least cost. I know it sounds goofy, but TM honestly is one of the best practices around. And I'm by far not exactly an airy-fairy kind of person. The breathing is important, so if someone wants to do yoga, or t'ai chi, I would imagine it's all helpful. Look at it like this: if your mantra is, "REEEeeearrRRRRggghhhhHHH" then it has to have some effect on the rest of your body.

Vitamin C, in Vagina, caused bleeding for me. I do NOT have periods anymore due to a Hysterectomy...so the bleeding must have come from irratation.

I used lemon juice the other day. I squeezed some of it into my hand, used a finger, made sure the finger was totally covered in lemon, and then inserted it all the way in there and moved it around making sure to touch all the crevices inside. It worked well.

However....... I tried this again one day right after sex, and boy was that a mistake. It burned like hell. And then for three days afterward I had pink discharge. Blood. So I think lemon works well, but do not do it after sex if you are dry, or raw.

For some reason the boric acid inserted vaginally after sex doesn't bother me. I guess it is less acidic than lemon. If anyone out there is going to use Vitamin C, I would be careful. In case you have a similar problem. I would experiment with just a little of it. Or maybe better yet, use the 'Today Daily pH Balance Restore Vaginal Vit C' tablets. I haven't tried them yet, but they seem like a good idea.

I mentioned earlier, when I first joined the site...body temperture....well, this specialist will have you monitor and record your body temp various times throughout the day..to see what is going on with your metabolism.... another factor needed to see what is going on with your body, and can help the doctor to determine what to look for and where to start.

I realize that this is bv forum...but this disorder effects our sex hormones....BV (hormonal?)

Surely you jest. Of course this is a BV forum, but the last time I checked my vagina was connected to the rest of my body. Yes, a friend of mine told me to buy a digital thermometer, and read my basal body temperature first thing every morning. So I have been trying to do that. To see how screwed up my hormones really are! I check it off on a chart. The thing is though that you have to do it for a few months to see what the pattern looks like.

arj75, I am not being funny--you should meditate. I mean really meditate (if possible). It's free, yoga is expensive, and it does wonders for stress. Laughing is good too but not everyone is a stand-up.

O.k. ladies, I know a lot of us don't have much time, or cash, or inclination to do yoga - but a few friends of mine do it, and have taken me, and I just have to say that it works really well. Probably for numerous different reasons. One being that you breath deeply. That is part of the yoga practice. Another thing, you put your mind somewhere else - - other than your problem. So you are giving your mind a rest. For me, it gives me a chance to stop hyperventilating! And you are moving your body in somewhat unusual poses, so you are moving things around and getting your circulation going. And the stretching is great. But you must keep doing it. You can't just do it a day here and a day there.. it won't do too much. You have to do it a couple of times a week. I am doing this so that I will start to learn how to breath properly. And it seems to be helping so far. I know meditation is great too, but I am not really there yet. I get distracted easily. But holding yoga poses engages your body and your mind - so you do not get distracted with negative thoughts as much! At least that is how it is for me.

My friend did some research for me..and all of us...laughter it is the best medicine for stress. In my big bag of bullshit, I have a link...http:holistic-online.com/Humor_Therapy/humor_mcghee_article.htm

Yes the research is limited...but humor has shown that laughter reduces at least four neuroendocrine hormones associated with the stress response, including epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone. This is consistent with research showing that various relaxation procedures reduce stress hormones. (hormones levels were checked with this study)

Excellent! Just read this and it makes so much sense. State of mind can influence the state of your body. That is why it's called the 'mind/body connection'. I will try to lighten up. It's hard but, couldn't be too hard if you are watching a funny movie, reading a funny book, etc.

[edit] SafetyThe Food and Drug Administration has determined that propylene glycol in or on cat food has not been shown by adequate scientific data to be safe for use. Use of propylene glycol in or on cat food causes the feed to be adulterated and in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 21CFR589.1001

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined propylene glycol to be "generally recognized as safe" for use in food, cosmetics, and medicines. Like ethylene glycol, propylene glycol affects the body's chemistry by increasing the amount of acid. Propylene glycol is metabolized into lactic acid, which occurs naturally as muscles are exercised, while ethylene glycol is metabolized into oxalic acid, which is toxic.

yeah, I don't think I'd be tempted to use it . . .

Cinderflower,

I'm sorry..maybe I misunderstand this... (propylene glycol) it is not safe for cats... but "ok" for humans? lol. Is your cat CFO of the FDA? Just curious? lol

Lysol consists essentially of cresol, a drug similar in action to carbolic acid. Contrary to advertisements, it is neither safe nor effective for the purposes for which it is claimed to be useful. In fact, there are reports of injuries and deaths which can be traced directly to the use of Lysol.

Zonite is essentially a solution of sodium hypochlorite in water. Although not as irritating as Lysol, it should not be used as a douche either for "daintiness" or contraception. It is superfluous as far as daintiness goes; it is futile for purposes of contraception; and it may cause injury to the genital organs.